A chat about death

4 weeks in and we’ve been keeping busy. We’ve been traveling all over Berlin and the last week we went to Oktoberfest and Salzburg. With all the big flashy trips, it’s often easy to forget about the smaller things. Josiah and I got the opportunity to experience one of those smaller things two weekends ago. When we first got to Germany, Logan Pankow and the local pastor invited us to the Jungentreffe. Literally translated as “Youth Meeting”, it’s a meeting of younger people in the ELFK (German sister synod). They meet together for a weekend of fun and fellowship. At first we planned on not going. We figured there were just too much to do. However, we changed our minds and ended up going. There were about 30 people there, at ages from 14 to late 20s. Needless to say, it’s a very different feel from the WELS youth rally. Additionally, everyone there speaks primarily in German, although they know English. I was pretty apprehensive going into it. However, two recent prep grads who are living in Germany were there, along with Logan and another MLS grad we had made friends with earlier. But even without them, we didn’t need to worry. Everyone was super welcoming and friendly. The theme of the weekend was death, and even though we didn’t understand a lot of it, what we did was super interesting. Our new friend Paul acted as our interpreter and let us know what was going on. We had devotions coupled with a hymn, and afterwards a variety of activities to expand on themes from the devotion. In our free time, we ended up playing various games and just talking to the other people there. Later, I was talking to my sister, who had gone on an LPS trip to the Czech Republic. We talked about how special it is to see people in a different country and different language worshipping God. Germany is by and large an atheist nation. Berlin, being a large city, is especially so. And the ELFK is a synod of 4,000 people in a nation of roughly 80 million. After a while, you can start to feel like Elijah in 1 Kings, and say to God “I am the only one left”. But when I saw these people gathering together in fellowship, from across the country, even when the vast majority of the country disagrees, I remembered God’s reply. God tells Elijah, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel”. Even when it feels like the world is devoid of people like that, the Jungentreffe was a really good reminder that I don’t just have the fellowship of the WELS, but of believers all over the world. Josiah and I have never been to a WELS youth rally. And I know that both have their strengths. But seeing how this close-knit group from across the country can build each other up, it seems to be such a great thing. That’s all for now. Bis später!

P S I don’t have any pictures from this weekend, which is a shame. I’ll double up next week